It seems to me that blogging is about as useful a way of passing the time as tossing pebbles into the sea, so for what it's worth - and that's not a lot - here are a few pebbles.

Saturday, 30 July 2011

Today

The quote for today is, I think, worth preserving. It shows such positive thinking.

Thomas A. Edison "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

What a treat it was to open the curtains and see blue sky over the Downs. Mornings recently have been grey and overcast even if we have seen a few small patches of blue later in the day. May be we'll feature a picture on the Stanmer blog tomorrow.

Brighton & Hove Albion play their first match at the new American Express Community Stadium this afternoon - against Tottenham Hotspur. The stadium was shown on the local television news yesterday evening when it was announced that the building cost was £93 million. What a staggering sum! Apparently one man, the chairman of the club, has lent the club £80 million interest free but where the balance came from I don't know. Presumably Amex had something to do with it as their name is associated with the stadium.

In all the planning it seems there was one small matter overlooked. Bear in mind that the stadium is out of town but is served by (I think) two bus routes with a railway station being fairly close as well. But there is no parking. There is a "park and ride" scheme by which spectators have to park a couple of miles away. Now, when I say there is no parking, I mean there is no parking for spectators or staff - who number 200 on match days. But they have to be on site by 11.00am - and the park & ride doesn't start until noon. The regular bus services look like being swamped.

The opening of the new stadium also means that I might have to avoid certain of my regular walks on match days so as to avoid the crowds.